


The Snake and Its Mask, Loyalty and Strength

by Roselle_Storm



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ash Lynx Lives, Canonical Character Death, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, happy ending for ash and eiji, yut lung needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 23:36:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18186974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roselle_Storm/pseuds/Roselle_Storm
Summary: Soulmates. Everyone has them and when one soulmate dies, the other slowly dies in agonizing pain. Which is worse? Dying without knowing your soulmate? Or dying, knowing that your soulmate hates you?





	The Snake and Its Mask, Loyalty and Strength

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first contribution to the Banana Fish fandom. I hope you guys enjoy it.

_Soulmates._

_Everyone has them  and long to find their other halves, the missing piece of their soul, their lover. What happens when a person loses their soulmate to the thrones of death? The one left behind slowly dies in agonizing pain and loneliness. Most end up killing themselves to meet their soulmates sooner in afterlife. Some don't and the most anyone has gone after the passing of their soulmate is a month then they succumb to the pain._

_Soulmates have matching soulmarks that change when they meet their destined one._

_Ash Lynx, resident gang master has found his soulmate in an innocent Japanese boy named Eiji. Their soulmarks were a closed birdcage on the right hip which opened when they met for in each other, they had found their freedom._

_Shorter Wong had a snake wrapped around the Chinese characters for loyalty on his left bicep. His soulmark changed to a beautiful black and white mask over the Chinese characters for strength but the sad truth is that he will never know who his soulmate is._

"You damn bastard!" A hand slammed against his throat and forced him down on the bed harshly. He let out a gasp as a knife sank into the bed next to his head and he felt the pull on his scalp. "I used to respect you guys. My parents said all the time that it's all thanks to the Lee's that we can survive in this foreign land. So no matter what bad rumours I heard about the Lee's, I never doubted you."

Shorter's sunglasses had fallen off and Yut-Lung's eyes widened when droplets of Shorter's tears fell on his face. "But now." The anger and hatred that he saw in Shorter's eyes cut into the Lee and he felt something in him crack. "Not anymore. You're the same as Golzine and his guys. You're maggots sucking the living blood of others." 

Shorter let go of the knife and put his sunglasses back on, concealing his expressive gaze. "I thought you looked like Eiji, but I was wrong. You're nothing but a venomous snake."

With those words, Shorter left. Yut-Lung sat up, his hair gliding through the knife, leaving strands on the bed. He was shaken and he reached up, his hands touching the wetness on his cheeks. He pulled up his left sleeve to see that his soulmark has changed.  **'The snake was better,'** he thought. 

"Mr Yut-Lung. You have a message from Mr Hua-Lung." The voice startled him but he quickly replied. "I'm coming." He picked up the knife, feeling an unknown emotion inside him that he pushed down deep.  **'It's better this way.'**

"My soulmate hates me," Yut-Lung muttered to himself as he laid on his bed. "Of course he does. I threatened everyone he loves." These were the only times that he could completely drop his mask and be himself. The moonlight streamed through the window and Yut-Lung sighed, getting to his feet. 

Those words stung because he had forced himself to believe that his soulmate could accept him, maybe even love him despite his past and his actions. Now, he realised that he should never have built up this false hope and he should have listened to his brothers when they told him constantly that no one would ever love him.  **'Why would anyone want to love a snake?'** Yut-Lung laughed, self-deprecatingly.  **'Maggots, huh? I guess he's right about that.'**

His mind flashed back to when he was 6 and he watched his mother being raped and killed by his demons of brothers. He remembered how his virginity was taken from him by those very same demons and how they used him and sold him to the highest bidder each week. 

 **'The universe is cruel,'** Yut-Lung thought, a tear rolling down his cheek.  **'To pair Shorter up with someone like me. He deserves so much better.'**  The 16-year-old stared up at the moon, remembering his beautiful, sweet, kind mother. "You wouldn't be proud of me right, mother? Seeing me turning into a demon, just like them." He sank down to the floor, the moonlight bathing him. **'I'm sorry, mother, Shorter. you both deserved better than me.'**

Banana Fish is truly terrifying. Yut-Lung watched with a sense of horror as his soulmate's mind was being destroyed. He felt sick, dizzy. Then, the bullet went straight through Shorter and a sharp pain went through him as he restrained his body from running to the man who owned half of his soul. He slapped a hand over his mouth as the pain grew to an unbearable level and he felt his legs trembling. The teen turned and fled back to his given room, when he heard voices, struggling to keep his screams at bay. 

 **'Get it together. You've been through worse.'** he mentally scolded himself but he couldn't contain the pain of having a soulbond broken forcefully. He pushed the pain back by sheer force of will.  **'I can't die. Not yet. Not until I get my revenge.'**

"I'm sorry about what happened to Shorter." Ash's expression turned to anger and he snapped at Yut-Lung. "Who are you to feel sorry?! Don't you ever dare say his name again." Yut-Lung stared at him before he rolled up the sleeve on his left arm. Ash's eyes widened in shock and horror as he stared at the soulmate mark. "Shorter's mark," he gasped. Then, hate entered his eyes and he growled. "You don't deserve him." 

"I never said I did." Still, he slipped the key into Ash's pants. "Good luck, Ash." Ignoring the minute tremble in his body, Yut-Lung headed down to the lab where he encountered the scientist. He saw the mangled mess that was now Shorter's body and his heart ached. "It's you who did that to Shorter's body, isn't it? Ash is coming for you. I know that for sure," he said, crossing his arms. "You killed his brother and made him kill his friend. Right now, he is the devil himself." 

He smirked at the man's frightened face and said. "How funny. You made a drug of death and now, you're scared of dying?" A quick prick of the poison needle made the man fall to the ground, his leg paralyzed as the slow poison entered his veins. "You know, that man you dismembered is my soulmate," Yut-Lung said, his eyes glittering dangerously. "If Ash doesn't kill you, my poison will." The teen approached Shorter's body and a tear fell from his eye, splashing onto Shorter's body. "I'm sorry," he whispered letting his mask drop a little. "Because of me, you lost your life. You deserved better Shorter. You might not believe me but I am sorry."

"You! How are you standing if your soulmate is dead?!" the man yelled at him. Yut-Lung smirked as he took all the vials of Banana Fish. "My revenge is not done," he said simply as he left. 

Somehow, _somehow_ , Yut-Lung accomplished what he wanted. His brothers are all dead and soon, he will be too.  **'Here's where the hateful Lee clan of maggots will die and no one will remain to carry on this filthy name,'** Yut-Lung thought as the pain began to overwhelm him, bordering on torturous. He sat on the floor by his bed, the sunlight washing over him and giving him peace.  **'Ash will die soon also if Lao reaches him.'** Unbridled, his thoughts turned to Eiji, the innocent, naive, irritating brat who despite being so useless in this world, stuck with Ash just because he loved him. 

"Ah, dammit," he said resigned, running a hand through his loose hair. He couldn't let Eiji go through this pain despite how much he hated the boy and Ash deserved a good life with his soulmate.  **'Let me do something good for once,'** he thought, laughing ruefully. Picking up his phone, he dialed Sing. 

"Sing, how did you know?" Eiji asked as he sat by Ash's bedside in the hospital. When, he heard that Ash had been shot, he refused to board the plane and Ibe had to bring him to the hospital where he didn't leave Ash's side. "Yut-Lung called me," Sing replied. Ash frowned. "Why would he?" "He's dead, Ash. News say that he died of a broken soulbond. He probably didn't want Eiji to go through that." "So the snake did have a heart after all," Ash mused. 

Eiji was silent, lost in his thoughts before he spoke. "I think that's a terrible way to die. He died knowing that his soulmate hated him and Shorter died, not knowing who his soulmate was." Ash winced at the reminder of Shorter's death and he reached out to take Eiji's hand which Eiji squeezed. 

"Are you two going to Japan?" Sing asked, changing the topic. The soulmates glanced at each other before Ash nodded. "Yes." Eiji's face immediately brightened and he gave Ash a huge smile which the former gang leader returned. Now these two birds will fly to their freedom of a new life together and never again will they lose each other. 

_So which is worse? Dying without knowing your soulmate, or dying knowing that your soulmate hates you?_

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Yut-Lung. He is honestly my favourite character in Banana Fish and he is so underrated. I just wanna give him a hug and shower him with love. He deserves some love and I shipped him so bad with Shorter... Banana Fish sinks all my ships..😭😭


End file.
